From an exclusive interview given to Dpreview.
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Sony looks to change the world of DSLRsTuesday, 11 January 2011

'We really can change the world' says Masashi 'Tiger' Imamura, President of Personal Imaging & Sound Business Group in an exclusive interview with dpreview.com. The company will try to bring together all its technologies to produce a worthy successor to the A700, he told us in a talk that also touched on the future expansion of the NEX system and the company's position on 'full frame' models.

'After the merger [with Konica Minolta] our system was very similar to a traditional DSLR - very similar to Canon and Nikon. They have more heritage than us: traditional DSLRs are a mixture of optics, mechanics as well as electronics. We're coming from the AV industry so we have a lot of unique technologies we can put into our cameras. Now we have merged our resources into one place (Tokyo), we can bring our knowledge from Alpha, NEX, Cyber-Shot and camcorders.'

'There has been a lot of discussion about what an Alpha DSLR should be. We've been focusing for some time on utilizing our unique technologies. The translucent mirror is one and it performs very well. We want the A700 replacement to be in line with that kind of step forward, we want it to be superior to its competitors, that's why we couldn't make it sooner,' he said. But, he assured us, the results will be worth waiting for: 'With the A33 and 55 we tried to look at the problem and get rid of some of the old hassles - the A700 successor should be like that.'

Meanwhile, the NEX concept will expand in several directions, he said: 'The concept of the NEX 3 and 5 were for people who already have a compact stills camera and want to take a step up, but see a traditional DSLR as big, heavy and hard to use. We think these models are a very good fit to those customers. But also there are customers using NEX in addition to their DSLR, so we're planning to expand NEX in a more easy way, a lighter way, but we'll also expand to make models that have more manual control and more DSLR-like capability.'

Imamura repeated the enthusiasm he expressed at Photokina for the use of legacy lenses on the NEX system: 'with lens adapters, people can combine their valued, heritage lenses with a very advanced digital body. We didn't expect that kind of usage. There are lots of interesting things we can do for those types of customer.' The wait for these models may not be too long - at a formal dinner after our interview he told the assembled journalists that: 'the successors to the NEX-3 and NEX-5 are on the horizon.'

But the company's ambition doesn't end there, he said: 'As well as the easy-to-use and DSLR capabilities, we're also thinking about the camcorder style shooters and technologies. The NEX VG10 is one example of that. The barriers between compacts, DSLRs and camcorders will merge - not necessarily in a single device but with technologies and capabilities being shared between them. Our mission is to create new markets - we don't want to make the same products as everyone else and just cannibalise each other in the existing market.'

When asked about full-frame, he said Sony was still committed: 'When we started in DSLR we said that if we have DSLRs, a full-frame camera must be there. But we are working on a lot of products and there is a limit to our engineering capacity. The time will come when I can give more detail. When we announce a full-frame camera we want it to be a big step forward - another technological development might be needed so I say to people: Please stay tuned.'

I'll reserve judgment until I see the actual product, determine if it will suit my needs, then make a decision if I like it or not. I don't see much point in condemning it already without knowing anything about it. I personally don't really like EVFs either, and prefer optical - but the next-gen EVF may be drastically improved, may have better refresh, may have live constant real-time feed, may have a hybrid optical path shared with it, may be selectable between optical and electronic...there are many ways it could go. If all Sony cameras go to an EVF like the current ones on the A33/55, it would probably drive me away from any new models too. But if they can make it work like an OVF or better in all ways, I'll jump aboard with the new technology.

Seeing all the praise and awards given by the professional photographic community, combined with the run-away sales success of the a33 and a55, I’m thinking the die has been cast on the EVF with the other manufacturers scrambling to come up with their own version of the same.

My current a700 is good for over 100K actuations so I have another 8 or 9 years before I have to make a decision on my main body.
But my second body that I will be picking up in the near future won’t be a traditional heavy Brick type of alloy and metal camera either.
I’m looking forward to the upcoming compact NEX with a viewfinder, manual controls, universal mount converter and other innovations like maybe a super light carbon-fiber body.

Last edited by WestCoast on Thu Jan 13, 2011 6:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Good to hear that Sony is out there doing stuff, wanting to change the world of DSLR`s is a worthy goal.
But would love to hear some stuff on lenses. IS is built into the body, they should be cheaper. Better IQ, better build quality, better weathersealing most importantly better price.

Looks like Canon won't wake up untill they loose another 10-20%
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Canon and Nikon are losing sales of interchangeable lens cameras to rival firms racing to compete with a growing armoury of compact system models.

Though Canon and Nikon still dominate the market, in Japan their combined share slumped 11% to 60.4% in 2010, according to a report published by Pen News Weekly, quoting statistics supplied by market research firm GfK.

Sony stormed into third place with a 15.2% share, according to the figures.

Meanwhile, in the UK, AP understands that Sony overtook Nikon in volume sales of interchangeable lens models for December 2010 - notching up 25% compared to Nikon's 20%.

A GfK spokesman confirmed the Sony market share figure to Amateur Photographer when asked to comment on our findings.

Though the 'big two' have yet to show their hand in the increasingly competitive compact system camera arena, Nikon has hinted at plans to launch a mirrorless model.

I just had to clarify the same post on dyxum, note the numbers are for interchangeable lens cameras. I have to guess the NEX is providing a significant part of that share, so alpha mount is still pretty small. Wish they split NEX and alpha lines in those numbers.

As long as they have that alpha logo on the camera they will always bunch it with the others. But yea, it’s probably mostly the NEX and a55/33, since they are the newer models out there.

The “conventional” a580 is sold out and on backorder, making one wonder why Nikon and Pentax got the preferential treatment on parts. Either Sony penned a bad deal or just underestimated their own demand.

I think it might be the latter. I remember Sony stated they were to invest quite a bit of money (I think it was $ 1.2 billion if my memory serves me well) in a new sensor production facility.

Then, when the A560 and A580 hit the market last year, they actually said they would bring only the former to the US market. Afterwards, for undisclosed reasons, they said they wouldn't. Now the A580 is the only current A5XX model in the US I think ? I'd say that it's because of the NEX cameras - they're selling in huge numbers - that the A560 didn't make it to the US market.

The Pentax K-5 and D7000 seem to be very popular as well, so I'm starting to think it's partly because of these cameras that the A580 is sold out everywhere. The fact Sony US offered a cashback on that camera might be another factor.

Back a step, do we know why the A580 production is limited? Do you know it is the sensor in shortage? Or some other part? A company with Sony's size and history wont run short on parts easily unless limited by 3rd party shortages. More likely is their sales forecast were lower than reality, leading to the shortage. It is hard to turn the tap up in production facilities as everything needs to be scaled up at the same time.